Rare Miss Read / VILLAGE CHRISTMAS First Edition 1966 [Hardcover] Miss Read

This is a lovely Christmas story about the Emery's, a young and modern couple who have three little girls. They move to a little English village that's called Fairacre and where everyone has known each other for ages. The villagers think that the new people are entirely too friendly and don't fit into village life. The closest neighbors to the Emery's are sisters, Mary and Margaret Waters, two elderly spinsters. The two sisters' are weary of their new neighbors and surprised to find that Mrs. Emery is expecting a fourth child. They are kind and pleasant to them, but don't want to get too involved with the Emery family. In fact, there's an old Victorian sampler hanging on their cottage wall that says "Be friendly to all, but familiar with few."Christmas Day is a special time for Mary and Margaret and each detail of the entire day is planned from the morning religious service to the ritual of preparing the Christmas meal. When one of the Emery children comes by with a plea for help, Mary and Margaret respond with goodwill and have a really exciting day and everyone has a wonderful Christmas.A delightful litte book! Now I want to read the other short stories about the happenings in Fairacre Village.